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First, I am very curious to learn about your general reactions to Taoism. Did you find Taoist teachings clear, logical, commonsense? Or did the world of Taoist ideas seem puzzling, illogical, and mystical? Did you find a small or a big gap between philosophical and religious Taoism?

The majority of the Taoism reading was not very clear to me, so i decided to do some further study with outside resources to assist me in understanding. The gap between philosophical and religious Taoism, I believe it to be a medium gap.The world of Taoist ideas seem to be mystical and puzzling. I began to gain a better understanding after reading some stuff from the Internet. The philosophical approach is logical and the religious approach comes across as a mysterious power or energy.

Second, is it a religion? The Tao is clearly a "higher power," but is it what people mean by the kind of higher power religions concern themselves with? In what ways does a "higher power" need to be conscious power?

Taoism is a religion in my opinion. But this has to be based on the persons beliefs, for me a religion has to include belief in a higher power, been kind and having a bit of peace with ourselves. Taoism offers all three of these things. I do not think the higher power in Taoism is the kind of power other religions concern themselves because it is not a conscious power. A higher power needs to be directly perceptible in order for followers to pray but this does not apply to Taoism.

Third, what did you find from your study of the varied online translations you looked at on the Apply page? Which translator did you find most helpful in rendering the often abstract words the Tao Te Ching into language that made sense to you? (Since we all worked with the same website, even though people looked at different chapters, the translators are the same.)

I found that Taoism can be very difficult to understand even given anecdotes. I found that S. Beck...

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